Containment: An Alternate Ending
by f.tippett
Summary: My alternate ending of the CW's Containment.
1. Chapter 1

****The characters and most of the storyline are from CW's Containment but this is the alternate ending I thought it should have. I'm not done but this is what I have so far. Hope you enjoy!****

 _...This love is good, this love is bad. This love is alive back from the dead. These hands had to let it go free. And this love came back to me..._

 _...This love left a permanent mark. This love is glowing in the dark. These hands had to let it go free. And this love came back to me..._

"You can say it. I'm here. You can say it. Don't be scared. I love you. I love you..." Jake told her as he held her in his arms.

Katie gasped and choked as she jerks awake. Her body is covered in sweat and she is shaking all over.

The nightmares are getting worse. More intense. More REAL.

She tries to go back to sleep but the dream keeps repeating in her head over and over again. All that blood...The look on Jake's face as he told her that it was okay and that he loved her...The feeling that this was the last time she would ever see his face or hear those words...

She starts to cry so she buries her face in her pillow. It is going on day 4 of her stay in isolation. Cannerts expiramental medicine seems to be working but it is making her have these horrible nightmares that wake her up in a panic. This last one had been mind numbingly traumatic. One of her worst fears come true.

She looks at the clock on the wall. Almost 7 am. Jake will be coming to visit her soon. He always brings her breakfast around this time. Her heart flutters at the thought of his beautiful smile. Never in her life has someone made her feel like this. Not even Quentin's dad.

Quentin. She couldn't wait to see him. He usually came to visit a little later in the morning. Silly kid loved to sleep in. Who could blame him? It wasn't exactly like there was a schedule to keep or anything with it being a quarantined zone and all.

Tap. Tap. Tap. She hears on the window glass and she snaps out of her daydreaming to see Jake smiling back at her. God, why did he have to be so gorgeous? She didn't even know that it was possible.

"Good morning. You look good." He grins at her. "Hungry?"

Not at all after the awful dream she just had but she didn't want to worry him so she just says "sure" and smiles back at him. Whether it was the medicine or his face making her feel better she wasn't sure but she would take it either way.

"Ok great. We have a fine assortment of dehydrated meals to choose from. I hear the freeze dried breakfast bars and the dried fruit are simply amazing. Or we have some toast and jelly that's just as spectacular." He said chuckling. Who was he kidding. Nothing in the MREs tasted great. Well except maybe the ones with M&Ms or Skittles but still. Katie needed to eat something.

"Well how shall I ever choose?" She giggled. "You make them both sound so delicious."

He couldn't help but smile at her. She was absolutely beautiful. No girl he had been with had ever had this kind of affect on him. 10 days. That was all it took for him to fall absolutely in love with her. He knew he would never be the same. She was part of him now. The best part. It only took a deadly viral outbreak to find her.

"I guess I'll go with the freeze dried breakfast bars. But only if I can have that astronaut ice cream you are hiding." She teases.

"No ma'am. That is for the date that we are going to have when you get out of here since our first one was...interrupted." He frowned." Trying to change the subject he added, "And just so you know I've been working on my singing since my first serenade was so wonderful." He laughed.

"It was be-autiful." She grinned. "There's no telling when I'm going to get out of here though. If I ever get out of here..." Her smile disappeared.

"Hey, hey don't talk like that. You're going to be fine. Look how long it's been since you were exposed. The medicine seems to be working. Don't give up hope. Please." He begged. He needed her to believe she was going to get better. He needed her. The thought of losing her was too much to bare.

"You ready to see Quentin? He should be up by now?" He asked.

"Yes. Please." She said nodding her head.

Jake held the palm of his hand up to the glass of the window. Katie put hers up to it. "I'll be right back." He promised. And she watched him as he walked away.

Dr. Cannerts had been in the lab all night working. Katie, by far, had outlived all those infected and seemed to be responding to the medicine. He still needed to figure out if this was just a temporary fix or if he was on the right path to a cure. He needed to do more testing on Katie and Thomas both.

Katie was laying down staring at the ceiling when out of the corner of her eye she saw Jake and Quentin coming down the hallway.

"Hey mom. How are you feeling?" Quentin asked.

"Hey sweetie. I feel good. Have you eaten anything yet?" She asked. "Jake has some MREs to choose from."

"Not yet but I will. Can I go visit Thomas?" He asked.

"Sure. Just remember to eat soon." She told him.

Jake laughed. "Still not the most popular person in isolation."

"I'm a mom Jake. I'm not supposed to be cool or popular." She laughed back.

"Well I think your cool." He smiled. Cool actually didn't even begin to describe how he felt.

"Ha well thanks. You might be my only fan." She laughed. And how on earth she won that lottery she would never understand.

"I doubt that but I bet I am your biggest one." He grinned.


	2. Chapter 2

As much as he hated to leave, Jake was needed to go out on patrol. Katie all but yelled at him to keep his responsibility of being a cop. She had a way of making him want to do better. To be a better person. He told Katie he wouldn't be gone long. He hoped that she might be able to get some sleep while he was away. She promised to try to rest. Physically she seemed to be doing better but mentally he was afraid that wasn't the case. He knew she had some difficulty in her past and that it was sometimes hard to keep things in check. But he needed her to stay as positive as she could under the circumstances. She needed to believe she was going to get better. Sometimes a person's will to fight could make all the difference.

Dr. Cannerts knocked on the door to Katie's room. He could see in through the big window but it just felt polite to knock instead of barging in.

"Hello Katie. It is time for your treatment. How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Honestly a little better. But I have been having these awful...nightmares. She didn't want to say it out loud because that made them even more real. Cannerts needed to know though. If he was going to be able to find a vaccine, she needed to be honest about all of her symptoms.

"Do you know how many you have had?" He asked.

"Two very vivid ones. I wake up drenched in sweat and I can hardly breathe until I realize it's not real..." she trails off.

"It might be from the trial medication mixing with the medication you are previously on. It could quite frankly be causing psychotic episodes." He explained.

Katie's mouth dropped open.

Dr. Cannerts continued. "With your permission I am going to lower the dosage of your anxiety medication and increase the trial medicine just a little to see if it makes a difference. If so then it may eliminate the nightmares and increase the antibodies in your system to fight off the virus."

"Do you really think that it will work?" She asked.

"We won't know until we try. I'm sorry but I am honestly flying blind. But other than Thomas you alone have shown the most improvement. Actually the only improvement. By this point of the disease, all those infected have sucummed to the virus. You have by far exceeded any previous time line established. This gives me hope that we are on the right track." He told her.

"Do it." She said. Ever since Dr. Cannerts had told her that Dr. Lommers had instructed him to lie about the Syrian man as patient zero she still didn't fully trust him but she did feel that he wanted to find a cure to this virus just as much as she did. Besides he was basically her only hope if she even stood a chance at getting better.

Jake came walking down the hallway with a ladder and a tv on a rolling stand.

"What are you doing?" Katie asked.

"Get your blanket and lay down against the window." He told her as he unfolded the blanket he was holding. "I raided Pediatrics. Those kids really know how to live it up down there."

Katie unfolded her blanket and placed it in front of the window. "What is all that stuff?" She asked looking at the box Jake was holding.

"Movie under the stars." He grinned as he held up plastic star decorations.

Katie gave him a big smile.

"That's beautiful." She grinned as Jake finished hanging up the star decorations. Tons of glowing green lights filled the hallway. She couldn't believe he had done something so sweet for her.

Jake put in the movie Happy Feet for them to watch but he wasn't even paying attention to the tv screen. He kept his eyes on Katie the entire time. Watching her face as she would laugh and quote scenes from the movie.

"You know all the words don't you?" He asked. Completely in awe of how much she amazed him.

She laughed. "Quentin and I saw this 42 times by the time he was 7. Oh look." She said pointing down the hall. "A shooting star."

"How romantic." Jake laughed.

"It's right over there under Orions Belt or whatever little mess you made." She teased. He had done such a beautiful job and she was so touched that he even thought to do something like this for her. But she couldn't resist poking a little fun at him.

"That's not, that's not Orions Belt. That's O'Bryans belt. Orions lesser known Irish cousin." He told her. They both couldn't help but laugh.

Katie started coughing and it took a moment to catch her breath.

"You ok?" Jake asked worried.

"It's weird, you know, that medicine. I feel better, but not. You know?" She told him. "Listen. Just in case. There's something I want to say before it gets bad, so you know I mean it."

Jake hated hearing her talk like that. Like she wasn't going to be ok. "We are going to have our entire lives to say things to each other. Ok."

"Just listen." She told him. "I love you."

"No." He whispered shaking his head.

"Yes. I love you Jake Riley." She smiled at him.

"Don't say that." He said, his voice breaking. "You don't get to say that until I can hold you when you do." He was trying hard to fight back the tears. He wanted to hold her in his arms when they said those words to each other. Not here with this glass separating them. Not now when just being within a few feet of each other could make the difference between life and death.

Katie had her forehead pressed against the glass memorizing every inch of Jake's beautiful face. This wasn't how she wanted to say those words to him but she needed him to know. She didn't know if the medicine was going to work and didn't know if she would ever get the chance to tell him how much he meant to her. He was exactly what she had been looking for her whole life. She could stare into his eyes forever. Slowly though his face seemed to be getting farther and farther away. Everything around her started to go black. She felt as if she was drifting far away. The last thing she heard was Jake's voice screaming Katie! Katie!...


	3. Chapter 3

"Dr. Cannerts! Dr. Cannerts!" Jake screamed as he ran down the hall and banged on the doctors office door. "Katie! It's Katie! She needs help!"

Dr. Cannerts flung open the door and started running down the hallway. He grabbed his hazmat suit and quickly put in on practically as he was still moving down the hallway. He burst through the door to Katie's room. He placed his hand on the side of her neck to feel for a pulse.

It felt like an eternity before Jake heard Dr. Cannerts say the words "I found a pulse." If he hadn't been holding onto the wall for support his legs would have given out beneath him. "She's alive." The most beautiful words in the world besides the ones Katie had just spoken to him.

Dr. Cannerts picked Katie up and placed her down on her bed. "Jake please bring me my medical kit. I need to find out what has caused her to faint."

Jake ran and grabbed the bag out of the lab. He sat it down in front of the door. Dr. Cannerts opened up the door and brought it inside the room.

Jake watched as Dr. Cannerts performed all sorts of tests on Katie, from collecting her blood to testing her pupils. He had never prayed so hard in his life for anything. She had to wake up. She had to wake up. She had to wake up.

Jake's legs had finally given out on him but he hadn't moved from out in front of the window to Katie's room. Nothing on earth could have made him leave that spot. He sat staring at Katie lying motionless in her bed. She looked so beautiful, so peaceful. If he didn't know any better he would've thought she was sleeping. It took all the strength he had not to open the door and wrap his arms around her. He couldn't bare to think he may never get the chance to do so.

"Jake. You should get some sleep." He heard Dr. Cannerts say from behind him. "I'll keep an eye on her and let you know if anything changes."

"I'm not going anywhere. Have you even been able to figure out what has happened to her?" Jake demanded.

"I have done every test that I am physically capable of doing. Her body seems to be responding to the treatment but I cannot tell if it's the virus or the treatment causing her unconsciousness."

"So you have no idea when or even if she is going to wake up?" Jake asked staring blankly into Katie's room.

"I'm afraid not." Dr. Cannerts told him. "More than anything I wish I had the answer."

Jake finally made himself get up off the floor. He had to be strong for Katie. He needed to check on Quentin. Katie would never forgive him if he didn't make sure Quentin was taken care of.

He walked into the room where he saw Quentin laying down on the fold-out cot staring at the window.

"Hey buddy. You feeling ok?" Jake asked as he placed his hand on Quentin's shoulder. "Have you eaten anything today?"

"Yeah. Nurse Helen gave me a protein bar earlier. How's my mom?" Quentin asked without even turning over.

Jake swallowed hard. He wish he could tell him that she was awake. That she was fine. That she would be there with them any minute. He couldn't say any of that though. "The same."

"She's not going to wake up is she?" Quentin started crying.

"Hey, hey don't think like that. Dr. Cannerts is working hard to make her better. We have to be positive. Your mom wouldn't want us to give up so quick." Jake wasn't sure if he was trying to assure Quentin or himself as well.

"You're right. I just want her to be ok, Jake." Quentin said with tears in his eyes.

"So do I buddy. So do I." Jake told him. "I'm going to go check on her now. I'll be back in a little bit ok?"

"Ok." Quentin mumbles.

Jake walks back down the hallway to Katie's room. She is still laying there motionless. Only the slow rise and fall of her chest gives any indication that she's alive.

Dr. Cannerts comes out of his office holding his clipboard. "Jake, I've been working since dawn and it may be a small comfort but what we've learned so far from Katie may actually lead to a vaccine. We just have to..."

"Well if it isn't Dr. Death himself."

Jake and Dr. Cannerts turn to see 4 men holding guns coming down the hallway.

"Excuse me gentlemen?" Dr. Cannerts says.

"Hey what's going on Trey?" Jake steps towards them.

"Oh. Same old, same old. After blaming the brown kid from Syria turns out he had nothing to do with this mess. News from the outside says Dr. Cannerts created the virus. The way I see it somebody's got to put a bullet in the man's head." Trey says as he steps towards Dr. Cannerts.

Jake holds his hand up. "You raise that thing and I will throw your ass in the isolation ward without a mask. Cannerts didn't create the virus. He's trying to save everyone in the cordon. And like it or not he's the only one that can."

"Yeah well word the is out. If I don't do it somebody else will." Trey takes another step towards Dr. Cannerts.

Jake steps in front of Trey. "Yeah. Yeah. But if you help me protect him, you and your guys can be first in line for a vaccine."

"There's a vaccine?" Trey glares at Dr. Cannerts.

"He just told me he's getting close." Jake quickly answered.

"Fine. We'll protect him. First in line right doc?" Trey says.

Dr. Cannerts just nods his head. Clearly afraid to move at the moment.

"Welcome to the cordon P.D." Jake tells Trey.

"Cinco. You hear that?" Trey grins at one of the men.

"Let's do it." Cinco laughed as the men walked back down the hall.

Jake and Dr. Cannerts look at each other. Jake had no idea if Cannerts really was close to a cure or not but at least he was able to dodge that bullet for the moment. Thanks to Lommers there was now a price tag on Dr. Cannerts head. Jake had to protect him. If there was any hope of Katie waking up or them getting out of there, he had to keep the doctor safe.

It had been a few hours since Trey and his gang had shown up. Dr. Cannerts had gone back into his office. Now more than ever he needed to find a vaccine. He didn't know who else might be coming for him. He was glad Jake had been able to convince Trey and his gang to protect him but now the pressure was on since they believed he was closer to a vaccine than what he really was Dr. Cannerts opens the door to his office and heads down the hallway to the lab. Trey and his gang are standing out in the hall.

"Dr. Cannerts." He hears behind him. As he turns around he sees a man in a full hazmat suit start to take off his mask. He is clearly infected.

Jake rounds the corner as he sees the infected man get closer to the doctor. "Hey back off!" He yells.

"He's the reason I'm sick!" The man shouts coughing.

"No. No. You don't want to do this." Jake tells him.

"Cinco. Cinco" Trey yells as his friend is about to grab Dr. Cannerts out of the way.

"Trey, wait!" Cinco yells.

"Stay away from my brother!" Trey shouts as he fires two shots at the sick man.

"Wait!" Jake tries to stop Trey but it's too late. The sick man drops to the floor. Blood has splattered all over Cinco's face and into his mouth.

They all stand there speechless. Cinco is now infected.


	4. Chapter 4

Jake and Trey stood out in front of the isolation room where Cinco and Dr. Cannerts were. Dr. Cannerts was in his full hazmat suit. He had hooked Cinco up to an IV line in order to administer the medicine.

"This treatment is still in the early stages of testing. I have no idea how or if it will work." Cannerts nervously tells Trey. So far he had only used it on Katie and while she was alive, she was currently in a sort of coma. He still didn't know if that was because of her previous medication, the treatment, the virus or some mixture of the three.

"You better hope my brother is still alive in 2 days or me and my boys are coming back and we'll take you and this whole hospital down with him." Trey warned Dr. Cannerts.

Dr. Cannerts slowly inserted the syringe of medicine into Cinco's IV line. He couldn't remember if he had ever been so nervous in his life.

Jake stood there thinking of what would happen if Cinco didn't make it. He had no doubt that Trey would do exactly as he had said. He couldn't let that happen though. Katie was still alive and he needed Dr. Cannerts safe if she was ever going to have a chance to get better. He had to keep Quentin safe too. No way he was letting Trey and his gang hurt anyone at this hospital.

Quentin was still asleep when Jake woke. He quietly got dressed and headed to check on Katie. Still no improvement, but she was still no worse off so that was at least some comfort. Dr. Cannerts had her hooked up to an IV as well. She was still getting the treatment administered daily. She had by far outlasted anyone who had contracted the virus so this was a good sign. They just needed to know what had made her slip into a coma.

He saw Trey standing in the hallway. "Trey have you seen Cannerts?" Jake asked walking towards him.

Trey didn't answer.

Jake walked up beside him and saw Dr. Cannerts in the isolation ward with Cinco and Thomas. "Hey what's going on?"

"He's fixing Cinco." Trey replied.

"Dr. Cannerts what are you doing?" Jake asked.

"I'm drawing the anti-serum from Thomas's blood, mixing it with interferon and introducing it into Cinco's bloodstream in real-time. The combination could create a drug cocktail that could save him." Dr. Cannerts explained.

Thomas looked exhausted and his mouth seemed really dry. He looked as though all the energy was being drained out of him. "Thomas you ok?" Jake asked.

"I'm ok." Thomas said barely holding his eyes open. He was licking his lips and his eyes started to roll back in his head.

"Shut it down." Jake demanded.

"No." Trey shouted.

"He's hurting the kid." Jake told Trey. "You're hurting him." He directed at Dr. Cannerts.

"I don't care. My brother needs it." Trey spat at him.

"I'm monitoring the boy closely. Once I mix the next vial we've got what we need. Thomas is doing great. He's really helping." Dr. Cannerts assured him.

"Last vial and that's it." Jake stated. He wasn't going to let Thomas die if he could do anything to stop it. He was just a kid. He had already been through enough. "Hang in there Thomas."

"This is what superheroes do right?" Thomas asked.

"That's right buddy." Jake told him. Dr. Cannerts better be right about this. He couldn't let Dr. Cannerts risk Thomas's life like that again. He wouldn't let him.

Jake stood outside Katie's window watching her. Memorizing the curves of her face. He was picturing the way her eyes would shine when she laughed. He missed her laugh. He missed everything about her. He had never let anyone get close to him and now that he had finally found the love of his life she was on the verge of being taken away from her. It just wasn't fair. Katie didn't deserve this. Quentin didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve this. What was the point of even finding love just to have it ripped away like this?

Jake walked down the hallway where Trey was standing outside Cinco's room. Dr. Cannerts was coming out of the door to Thomas's room. "How is he?" Jake asked Cannerts.

"He's resting. He's fine." Dr. Cannerts told him.

Jake shook his head. "Risking a kid's life to save a thug."

Suddenly the alarms in Cinco's room started going off. Cinco started to shake violently. Foam coming from his mouth.

"No. Whats going on? " Trey asked panicked.

"He's crashing!" Dr. Cannerts yelled running into Cinco's room.

"Fix him!" Yelled Trey. "Get the kid!" Pointing towards Thomas's room.

"No! No more Thomas." Jake shouted. He was not about to let them touch Thomas again.

"It's too late for that. I'll try the interferon." Dr. Cannerts said as he injected a syringe into Cinco's IV. The monitor was getting louder and louder as the alarms sounded.

"Hang on there Cinco!" Trey begged. "Cinco! Cinco!"

"He's not responding!" Dr. Cannerts yelled as Cinco shook more violently. Foam pouring out of his mouth. He shook so hard that he fell off the bed into the floor. The monitor signaling that his heart had flatlined. Dr. Cannerts stood staring at Cinco. His mouth wide open in shock.

Trey furiously punched the window to Cinco's room.

Down in the boiler room, Jake was getting ready to cremate Cinco's body. He removed the blanket off Cinco's face who was laying on the stretcher. Jake had seen plenty of dead bodies over the past few weeks. All of them had looked virtually the same in the end. Cinco's was different. Something just wasn't right.

He headed out into the hall to Dr. Cannerts office when he heard a commotion. He opened up the door to see Trey's hands around Cannerts throat. The doctor was struggling to get free.

"Hey break it up now! Stop! Stop!" Jake yelled as he ran to pull Trey off Dr. Cannerts. "Enough!"

"Let me go!" Trey released the grip around Dr. Cannerts neck and fought to get Jake off his back. "Get off me!"

"Hey I'm angry too. But there's a question for both of us man. What are we going to do with that anger?" Jake asked.

"I don't know." Trey desperately said. "But I gotta do something."

Jake half hugged Trey and leaned in. "Think. Don't kill the one guy that could get us out of this mess." Jake understood how angry Trey was. Katie was laying unconscious just down the hall. He had no idea when or if she would ever wake up. And if she did, when or if they would ever get out of the cordon. The whole situation was messed up and he couldn't blame Trey for being upset over losing his brother. He just couldn't let him kill the only hope that any of them had of finding a cure.

Trey just glared at Jake and slowly backed away. He sauntered down the hall and violently kicked the chair that he had been sitting in down the hallway and walked out.

Jake turned back to Dr. Cannerts.

"Lucky you came by." Cannerts gasped still trying to catch his breath. He kept rubbing his hand over his throat where Trey's hands had been.

Jake didn't respond to his comment. He had come to see the doctor for another reason. "Hey I've looked at a lot of bodies. Too many. And they all look the same. Red, bloodshot eyes. It's like in the end they cried blood."

"Yes. Orbital hemorrhaging. An unfortunate and traumatic late-stage manifestation." Dr. Cannerts panted as he was still rubbing his sore neck.

"Well Cinco didn't have that. His nose and his mouth were clean too. He looked different." Jake told him.

"I assumed he would bleed out posthumously. That's not uncommon." Dr. Cannerts seemed surprised. "You are saying he didn't? Were his clothes wet?"

"Yeah soaked. Like he'd dove in a pool." He knew something was different with Cinco's body. "Alright I know it means something but what?"

Dr. Cannerts was shocked. " It means Cinco didn't die from the virus. He's exhibiting the classic symptoms of a Cytokine storm. He died from my treatment. He outlived the virus. If we can tweak the right cocktail for the treatment, we could be on the road to a cure."

This was it. This was what they had all been looking for. For the first time in days Jake let himself feel hope. Hope that Cannerts could save Katie. Hope that he could save those inside. Hope that the walls could come down and that he, Katie and Quentin would have the chance to be a family.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you guys for reading and for the feedback! Hope you enjoy!**

For the first time in a long time Jake woke up feeling like the weight on his chest had lessened just a little. He felt like after all they had been through that there just might be a light at the end of the tunnel. Dr. Cannerts had started right to work in his lab after they had discovered Cinco's body had indeed defeated the virus.

Jake made sure that Quentin had gotten breakfast then he left to check on Katie before he went to see if Cannerts had made any progress. The only sound coming from her room was the steady beep of the heart monitor Dr Cannerts had recently hooked up to her. Jake never thought he would love the sound of that machine so much. But it meant she was still in there. She was still fighting. And if Cannerts could get the treatment right, she could get better and wake up. Never in his life had he prayed for something so hard. He placed his hand upon the window glass like he used to when Katie was awake. "I love you." He whispered.

Jake walked down the hall to the lab where he saw Dr. Cannerts fully covered in his hazmat suit, a vial in his hand.

"This test should tell us the exact mixture of interferon to go with Thomas's blood profile. With the proper proportions we may be able to extend the life for those who have the virus exponentially longer." Dr. Cannerts explained as soon as he saw Jake arrive.

"That's good, right?" Jake asked.

"Only one problem." Dr. Cannerts sighed.

Then the realization struck Jake. "There's only one Thomas." He remembered how much it took out of Thomas just to do the treatment for Cinco. There was no way this little kid could cure the entire cordon on his own.

"Exactly. And at the rate we need to draw blood, we'd end up killing the boy and we'd still never get ahead of the virus." Cannerts confirmed Jake's fear.

"Could there be another source?" Jake wondered. "Anyone in the cordon?"

Dr. Cannerts didn't sound optimistic. "The odds. Based on these types of antibodies is about one in a thousand." He let out a sigh.

Jake was trying to be more positive. "Still out of all the people in the cordon, that's four possible candidates.

"Well, then we'd have to test them all and hope that we find a match." It's an impossible task. There was no way he believed anyone still alive in the cordon would allow themselves to be tested even if it was to help find a cure. He was sure no one trusted the doctors, police or government at this point.

"Then we test them all." Jake had his mission. He didn't know how he was going to accomplish it but he would get every single person he could to get tested. Their lives depended upon it. Katie's life depended upon it.

Jake grabbed the rest of his uniform and secured his helmet on. He headed towards the park in the middle of town. He was hoping there would be a fair amount of people making their way around town.

"Sir I'm with the Atlanta PD." Jake approached a man walking towards him. "We'd appreciate your cooperation."

"Can't help you." The man said walking quickly by.

"Would you please help?" Jake asked some others as they walked by.

"No. No." They shook their heads as they hurried by.

Jake saw some more people coming out of a building. " Hey, you two, would you two come to the hospital with me?"

"No, I got to get home to my kids." One of them scurried off.

Jake was getting impatient. If he could just get someone to listen. "Hey, everyone needs to get their blood tested. It might be the way to a cure. We need your cooperation."

"Bunch of liars." He heard someone yell.

"Hey, listen, I'm not infected." He started after the individual. "Hey." They stated running even faster. Jake felt defeated. This was hopeless. He got why people didn't trust anymore but he felt like if they would listen maybe he could make them understand.

He headed back to the hospital. He sat down in front of Katie's window to her room and pressed his forehead against the glass. What would she tell him if she were awake? She wouldn't let him give up he knew that. She gave him the strength to do the impossible. He would give anything to just hear her voice again. Her laugh. It felt like ages ago they were sitting in the hallway giggling over the "shopping spree" Jake took her on.

"Any success in rounding up donors?" He heard Dr. Cannerts ask from behind him, snapping him back to reality.

"The people are scared. Scared of the virus. Scared of each other." Jake sounded spent. "I'm not the right person for this. Any of this." He sighed putting his head in his hands. He was tired. He had known from the start of the cordon he wasn't cut out to be in charge. He couldn't do this. It was too much.

"You're a good police officer, Jake. The fact that you're here speaks volumes about your character." Dr. Cannerts tried to encourage him.

"Katie always gave me a hard time when I thought about giving up. She always saw me as more of a hero than I saw myself." He knew she wouldn't let him give up if she was awake. No matter how impossible it seemed.

"She has a way of seeing the good in people." Cannerts agreed. He had underestimated her intelligence. Sbe had figured out that the Syrian man wasn't patient zero and she had called him on it. She had told him to step up and take responsibility for his mistakes. He admired that about her.

"Yeah she does." That got Jake to thinking.

"I have an idea." Jake told Cannerts as he got up and ran into the boiler room. He grabbed his little black notepad out of the metal box sitting on the table. He grabbed his helmet and headed outside the hospital.

He headed back to the park where he had first attempted to recruit people to get their blood tested. There were a few individuals walking around with backpacks on, their faces covered with masks and scarves. Jake pulled out the little notebook out of his pocket and turned the page. He pulled the microphone out to his megaphone and began to read. "Ann Scott. Jeff Joseph. Oscar Welch. Carl Pierson. Ashley Bowen. Timothy Hall."

"What's this about?" Someone asked. More people started coming closer.

Jake continued. "George Owens." He thought of Katie at that moment. She was still with him though. She was still holding on. He was doing this for her.

"These names….these were fathers, mothers, sons, daughters. These are the names of the people we loved. And lost. The list and the pain goes on and on. But what can we do to keep the list from growing? There may be one thing. And I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It's a long shot, but it's a shot. I know what I'm asking here goes against everything we've been told. And we've heard it all. Stay inside. Keep four to six feet apart. We've had it drilled into us. But I'm asking everyone, please, gather as many people as you can and come back here at 3 pm to be tested for a possible antibody. This could lead to a cure. The hope may lie in one of us. Which means it lies in all of us." He felt Katie would be proud of him but he wished she had been there with him. She had a way about motivating people. Making them believe in themselves more than they ever had. He had no doubt she would have convinced the crowd to help. But it was just him. Now he had to wait and see if they had taken anything he had said to heart.


	6. Chapter 6

Jake, Dr. Cannerts, and the few members of the medical staff that were still left had set up tables and canopies in the park. They had made a large cardboard sign that said "Blood Test" across it. Jake looked discouraged. It was past 3 pm. The time he had told people to start showing up.

"Uh, maybe people are still on their way." Dr. Cannerts said trying to sound positive.

Jake was disappointed but honestly not surprised. " Come on, it was always gonna be a big ask."

Dr. Cannerts had a shocked look come across his face. Jake turned around to see what he was looking at. Trey and his gang were headed right towards them. They had their bandanas tied around their faces and they looked like they were about to start something. "Let me handle this." He told Cannerts.

"What do you want?" Jake demanded.

"Check my blood." Trey told him as he took off his jacket. "Maybe I can help."

Jake was speechless. Trey and his gang were the last people he thought would ever show up. He should have known after meeting Katie that sometimes people can surprise you but since she had gotten sick, he had forgotten what that felt like.

More people started to gather at the tables. People were coming from all directions towards them. Maybe his speech had worked. Maybe there was hope after all.

"I'll take him over on this side." One of the medical staff directed towards a man in the crowd. "Just press your finger here."

Jake was amazed at how many people were turning up.

"See just a pin prick. Don't worry. This won't hurt." The medical staff would say.

"Thank you sir." A nurse told a man after she gathered his test. "Dr. Cannerts? Dr. Cannerts? Take a look at this." She said as she handed him the test paper.

"Who's is this?" He asked surprised.

"That guy in the white." She pointed towards the man who was walking away.

"You. You there!" Dr. Cannerts yelled. "Stop that man! But don't touch him!" He instructed Jake.

"Hey!" Jake took off running towards the man. "Hey! Father? Stop!"

"Yes? The man turned around.

Dr. Cannerts rushed up to him. "Your blood. You have the antibody. We found you." He was in shock. The chances of them finding another person like Thomas was so slim he couldn't believe they had found him.

"The Lord had found me." The man stated with a smile.

Dr. Cannerts and Jake looked at each other and a big smile came across both their faces.

Once they had finished testing all those who participated they headed back to the hospital. No others with antibody were found but having another person other than Thomas was a start. Thomas was still recovering from the transfusion of blood he had given to Cinco and he needed time to recooperate. Dr. Cannerts set right to work drawing blood from the gentleman. He adjusted the balance of the treatment cocktail and then administered the blood and medicine straight into Katie's system. Dr. Cannerts told Jake it might take a little while to take affect so to just be patient at the moment.

Jake sat down outside Katie's window. He was beyond scared. His heart was beating out of his chest. What if it didn't work? What if she didn't wake up? What if it killed her? So many thoughts were racing through his head. If felt like time was standing still or worse actually moving backwards.

He hadn't told Quentin about the new treatment for fear of him getting his hopes up. Katie had to wake up. She had to come back to him and Quentin.. There was so many things he could picture in their future. The Hawks game he promised to take them to, getting to go on a real date with Katie, getting to actually hold her hand and touch her skin….Jake slowly started to drift off…..

Katie was standing in the shower with her eyes closed as the water cascaded over her. Jake could see the silhouette of her beautiful body through the opaque shower curtain. He pressed his hands up against the curtain and towards her back and slowly rubbed up against her skin. She turned around pleasantly surprised and placed her hands up towards the curtain to meet his. Jake slowly grabbed the side of the shower curtain and pulled it back. Katie gave him the most amazing smile. She looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her. Slowly he stepped towards her and placed his hands on each side of her shoulders. For the first time he was able to feel how incredibly soft her skin was. He gently placed his hand on her cheek, running his fingers down to her chin. Then slowly he pulled her lips to meet his….

A bright light burst through Jake's dream and startled him awake. He felt sick. He thought it had been real. He could remember the feel of Katie's skin. The touch of her lips. He put his head in his hands and began to sob. Suddenly he noticed that he didn't hear the sound of Katie's heart monitor beeping anymore. He jumped up and stood there speechless.

"Hey. I was thinking of going on a run. You wanna come?" Katie jokingly asked him, her voice a little raspy.

With tears still running down his face, Jake couldn't help but let out a laugh. He was sure he was in shock.

"You are so beautiful when you smile. Promise me you'll smile at least once a day for the rest of your life." Katie grinned at him.

He placed his hand against the window glass. "I promise. As long as you are with me I will never stop."

 **I just couldn't deal with Katie dying. It devastated me. It crushed me. I cried for days. I had no problem with their take on the storyline except when they killed Katie. Her, Jake and Quentin deserved better. Her and Jake deserved a chance at love. This was me rearranging their storyline to fit Katie surviving. I may continue on with my version of how the story should go but not sure yet. Right now I just had to have Katie survive. Thanks for reading and the feedback. Hope you enjoy!**


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